Inking mechanism.



F. W. THOMAS.

INKING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED lULY 15, 1913.

Patented Apr. 13, 1915.

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44 TTORNE THE NORRIS PETERS CO., PHOTOJJTHQ, WASHINGTON. D. c.

F. W. THOMAS.

INKING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 15. m3.

Patented Apr. 13,

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pair riwr FF1 FRANK W. THOMAS, 015 TOLEDO, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE AUTOTRESS COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A. CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

INKING MECHANISM.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK W. THOMAS,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Toledo, in the county of Lucas, State of Ohio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Inking Mechanism; and I do declare the following to be a full, true, and exact description of said invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make use of the same. My invention relates to inking mechanism. for printing presses or the like, and particularly to a device by which a more even distribution of ink, according to the requirements ofthe particular form on the press, may be obtained. H In the usual form of inking mechanism for printing presses, the ink is supplied from an ink fountain having a fountain roller which is turned intermittently to carry ink out of the fountain and the amount of ink permitted to pass from the fountain is controlled by a knife or other adjustable member. The fountain roller is usually of metal, as is the knife also, and it has been found exceedingly difficult to regulate with great nicety the space between this knife and the roller, on which control of the ink supply depends. Such a fountain knife or blade is usually controlled by a se ries of adjusting screws along its length, by which the operator can adjust the flow of ink but the nice adjustment of these screws required in line printing is obtained only after considerable care and attention on the part of the operator.

My present invention has for one of its objects devices which obviate the necessity for very exact setting of the knife blade to control the flow of ink.

With this and other objects in view, my invention consists of certain novel features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be more fully described and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a longitudinal section on the line 1-1 of Fig. 4, of a printing press mechanism of the type disclosed in the patent to Vierengel, No. 1,004,606, granted October 3, 1911, which mechanism I have selected for purposes of illustration in connection with my novel devices. Fig. 2 represents a section on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed July 15, 1 913.

Patented Apr. 13, 1915.

Serial No. 779,075.

represents a plan of Fig. 1. Fig. 4: represents a section on the line 1-4 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 represents a section on the line 55 of Fig. 2.

The corresponding parts are referred to both in the drawings and the specification by similar reference characters.

Referring non to Fig. 1, 10 represents the impression cylinder of the particular type of press which I have chosen for purposes of illustration in connection with my novel inking mechanism. As fully described in the patent to Vierengel referred to, this cylinder has both a reciprocating and a rotating motion. The form bed has attached to it the usual inking plate 11. A form roller carrier 12 is mounted to move with the cylinder 10 and carries form rollers lit-13, and a form distributer roller 14, all as shown in the patent to Vierengel referred to. 15 is an ink fountain of any usual construction provided with a roller 16 arranged to be moved intermittently by any suitable mechanism, preferably the usual ratchet 18 operated by a pawl 17. 23 is a distributer roller continuously rotated by suitable gearing, and 2a is a ductor roller mounted to oscillate between the fountain roller 16 and the distributor roller 23 in any usual manner, and preferably by a cam 27 on the cam shaft 25. A lifting roller 28 is mounted in suitable arms controlled by a cam 26, all

in the usual manner, so that the roller 28 contacts with the roller 23 when the ink plate 11- passes from under it to the right of Fig. 1, and is lifted so as to contact with the plate 11 when the plate moves to the left of Fig. 1. The arrangement so far described is of the usual construction and forms no part of my present invention.

In order to illustrate more clearly the purpose of my present invention, 1 will now point out the defects of the mechanism so far described. Assuming that the form inked by the rollers 13 requires more ink on the right side-of Fig. 3 than it does on the left, the operator of the press will endeavor to adjust the screws holding the knife blade (not shown) against the roller 16 so that a greater amount of ink will pass around the roller 16 on its right hand end than on its left. But, as hasbeen pointed out, great nicety in this adjustment requires considerable time, and in the meantime, either too much or too little ink is bev such as that shown thissliding member derstood that the roller '30 rotate on the shaft 31. 1 This ing supplied to different portions ofthe formk'Then too,"in a quick acting press,

in the patent to 'Vierengel referred to, many sheets may be printed before this adjustment is reached, resulting in considerable wastage, or at least a poor quality of printing for those sheets. 7 To obviate too great refinement in this adjustmen't,*and to obtain the required-distribution of the ink in relation to the particular form, I provide a roller of less length than the width of the ink plate 1 1, and mount this on a shaft 31 so that the roller 30 is movable longitudinally across the path -of motion of the plate 11. It will be unis also free to shaft 31 is held m'apairof arms 32 32 pivoted on a shaft .3.eXtending" across the side frames of the inachine,and held in adjusted position by bolts 34 passing through eyes in the arms '32, "into the side frames of the machine; By means of these'adjustments, the shaft 31 maybe turned around the shaft 33 so that the. roller 30, which would usually bea soft I i ollerfand therefore subject I towear, may be brought into proper positionto contact with'the' plate 11 whenit'is carriedinto the position shown inFig. 1. ii *[Preferably I provide mechanism by which the roller 3.0 may be moved across the plate 1'1' atthe time the roller 30 and the plate 11 are out of contact with each other, this mechanism being arranged so that the roller 3.0"hasno longitudinal motion when it is rolling on the plate 11. As one form of such niechani'sni l have shown a worm wheel 35 mounted on a stud 36 attached to a bracket connected toIthe shaft 33. This worm Wheel is driven by a worm 38, on a shaft39 through suitable gearing, as illustrated, from, anyfconvenient portion of the press. Freely mounted on the spindle or stud 36 is an arm 40 connected by a pitman 4:1 to a sliding member 42 mounted'on the shaft 33, having a projection 43 engaging with a groove 44 in a member 45 'plate'l l, the mechanism connected to the roller 30. Onftheworm Wheel 35 and inthe plane of the arm 40 is a stop" pin 46'which'may be covered iwith rubber, fiber or any other suitable material to act as abuffer, and the worm wheel 35 also has a pin 47 to which'is connected one end ofthespring'48, the'other' endof the spring 48 beingconnected to the arm 6L0, as shown most clearly in'F 3. If there were no ink so 3 far described would never 'have'the position shown in Fig. 3, but the spring 4 8 wo'uldbe' contracted to hold the arm 40 against the stop 46 sothat. asthe .wheel 35 rotated, the roller 30 would have a continuous longitudinal motion back forth across the press. ll'jis in "contact with the roller j v :30, however, and especially when the usual f plate 11. During 1 s dcrable quantity of Ink on their right hand When the plate I sticky printers ink is on such roller and plate, considerable rsiscanc'e'io longitudinal motion of the roller30 is set up, and the spring 48 is so designed that this resistance is suflicicntto overcome the tension of the spring 48. The roller 30, therefore, rotates, but does not move longitudinally while in contact with the this period, the wheel 35 continues its rotation, thus causing the spring 48 to be stretched. When the plate 11 passes out of'contact with the roller 30, however, the spring 48 contracts, drawing the arm 40 against the stop .46 to give it a quick intermittent motion longitudinally while out of contact with the plate 11. en the plate 11 again reengages roller 30, the spring 48 again yields until the plate 11 is out of contact with the roller 30, when the previous action is repeated. In other words, the mechanism which ,I have shown causes the roller 30 to move by short intermittent steps back and forth acrossthe press, such motion being given, however, only when the plate and roller are out of contact.

Assuming now as before, that the form on the right hand side ofFig. ,8 requires more ink than that on the left handside, and assuming that the fountain blade is adjusted so that substantially a uniform supply is given across the whole length of the roller 16, it will be seen that my roller 30 tends to equalize the distribution of the ink in accordance with the demands of the form. The ink plate 11, through the rollers 24, 23 and 28, will receive from the fountain 15, under the conditions just set forth, a substantially uniform coating of ink throughout its width. This uniform coating will be carried'to the rollers 14, and from thence to the form. But the form at the left hand side of Fig. 3 does not require, we will assume, this quantity'of ink, whereas the form at the right hand side of Fig. 3 requires more than this quantity of ink. VVithoutthe roller 30, under these circumstances, in a short time the plate 11 and the rollers 13 would have accumulated on their left hand ends a conink, whereas the plate 11 and rollers 13 would have practically no ends, thus causing the printing to be muddy on oneside The roller say the center of the press, so that when the plate 11 again contacts with it,'the quantity of ink on the roller 30 is re-distributed on the plate 11 at a point where there is a relatively small supply of ink, and the plate 11 will take ink from the roller 30 or re-distribute ink thereon according to whether the ink on the plate at that particular/zone is greater or less than the ink on the roller 30. Similarly, at the next cycle of the press, the roller 30 will have been moved into a position to contact with the right side of the plate 11, and here, under the conditions assumed, the plate 11 will be deficient in ink, and therefore, will take from the roller 30 its surplus ink. In other words, the roller 30 will take up or deposit ink on the plate 11 in accordance with the relation between the quantities of ink on the roller and on that portion of the plate with which it contacts, so that the surplus of ink is carried auto matically from the portions of the plate having such surplus to the portions of the plate having a deficiency of supply. Under these circumstances, it will be seen that eX- act adjustment of the fountain blade is unnecessary.

It will be understood that any suitable mechanism other than that which I have chosen for purposes of illustration may be used to move my roller 30 intermittently back and forth across the press.

It will be understood that my novel mechanism may be applied to any form of press in which an inking roller is moved alternately into and out of contact with my distributing roller 30 or its equivalent, and that it may be applied equally well to a rotary press, as well as the flat bed press which I have chosen for purposes of illustration.

Having now described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is as follows:

1. In an inking mechanism, a distributer roller and an ink carrying member arranged to be brought into and out of contact with each other, and means, including a yielding member, to cause said roller to move longitudinally, said yielding member being constructed and arranged to yield when said member and said roller are in contact and to resume normal position when they are out of contact.

2. In an inking mechanism, a distributer roller and an ink carrying member arranged to be brought into and out of contact with each other, and means, including a yielding member, to cause said roller to move longitudinally to and fro, said yielding member being constructed and arranged to yield when said member and said roller are in contact and to resume normal position when they are out of contact.

3. In an inking mechanism, a distributer roller and an ink carrying member arranged to be brought into and out of contact with each other, and means to give a step by step, longitudinal motion to and fro to said roller.

4:. In an inking mechanism, a distributer roller and an ink-carrying member arranged to be brought into and out of contact with each other, and means to traverse said roller longitudinally in a series of steps, each step occurring between successive contacts between said roller and said member.

5. In an inking mechanism, form rollers, a distributer roller, an ink plate arranged to be moved into and out of contact with said form and distributer rollers, and means to move said distributer roller longitudinally only when said plate is out of contact therewith.

6. In an inking mechanism, an ink plate and a distributer roller, arranged to be brought into and out of contact with each other, said roller being shorter than the width of said plate, and means to give said roller a step by step longitudinal motion across the direction of motion of said ink plate.

7. In an inking mechanism, an ink plate and a distributer arranged to be brought into and out of contact with each other, said roller being shorter than the width of said plate, and means to cause said roller to engage with different portions of said plate at successive contacts between said roller and said plate.

8. In an inking mechanism, a distributer roller mounted for longitudinal movement, an ink carrying member arranged to contact therewith, a continuously rotating memher and connections, including a spring, between said roller and said rotating member, arranged to give a to and fro longitudinal motion to said roller, said spring being adapted to yield when said ink carrying roller and said ink carrying member are in contact and to resume its normal position when they are out of contact.

FRANK W. THOMAS.

IVitnesses:

MINNIE E. NEWTON, JOHN R. CALDER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C. 

